Author Q&A With Julie Whitney
Julie Whitney is a public relations professional with forty years of experience in public relations and marketing, having worked on both the agency and client side as well as in the television industry. Her company, Phillippi-Whitney Communications, LLC, founded in 2000, represents both large and small clients in a wide variety of industries. She has promoted dozens of authors throughout her career, often supplementing their publishers’ internal PR teams’ efforts.
She also works as an on-camera talent, appearing in both television commercials and video podcasts. She even appeared as an extra in the movie Grease, which was shot on location in Los Angeles in the summer of 1977. She is the author of two children’s books – Astra The Lonely Airplane and Astra In Hollywood, with a children’s animated streaming series in the works. Meet Julie:
You are an author, but is it your day job? If not, what fills your days? I am a self-employed PR Professional in Cincinnati, Ohio, and also became a children’s author very unexpectedly in 2020. My first book, Astra The Lonely Airplane, was published in 2022, and my second book in the series, Astra In Hollywood, was published in 2024.
Did you always want to be an author? No, I did not! I have promoted dozens of authors throughout my PR career, and I know what hard work it is to write a book and get it published. It was never on my bucket list.
What is your most recent book, and what inspired you to write it?
This inspiration struck one night during the 2020 pandemic, which impacted my life in a much bigger way, and I turned tragedy into triumph! The original plan was that I was turning 60, and my husband was taking me to Italy to celebrate!
However, the world shut down, and then he unexpectedly lost his job as the chief corporate pilot of a beautiful Gulfstream jet after 13 years when his company eliminated the flight department due to the pandemic: lockdown, no job, and no Italy. I had a “Zoom” pizza party with my friends as we sat at home, celebrating the big 6-0. I couldn’t even see them in person! After going with my husband to clean out the hangar and say goodbye to the beautiful jet, I was overcome with emotion. She was his baby, and he flew her an average of 3 days a week across the country and even to Brazil.
I sat inside her and openly wept, wondering what would happen to her day after day as she sat all alone, rusting away in her hangar. That night, I started writing Astra, The Lonely Airplane, and submitted the manuscript to dozens of publishers all summer long, knowing that it would only take one YES after many rejections. I finally received a yes and contract from my publisher on National Aviation Day in August 2020, the same day my husband found a new job flying! The stars were clearly aligned. The second book, Astra in Hollywood, teaches children that making new friends who may be different from them is possible, and that being kind makes you a good friend! This book won the 2024 Hindi’s Libraries Females of Fiction book for Best Picture Book.
How do you hope your book will uplift readers? Both books teach children not only about aviation, but also about hope, resilience, courage, adjusting to new circumstances that may arise in their young lives, and being kind and helping others. These are messages that have resonated with children ages pre-K-3 in a major way.
What are you most excited about with this book? I am most excited that the books may soon become a part of an animated children’s streaming series. I have so many Astra books in my head that it would be impossible to publish them all. I outlined 25 episodes for an animated children’s series, which is expected to take off soon. I am working with an award-winning studio that will pitch the series to major children’s programming shows worldwide.
What advice would you give someone wanting to succeed in your professional industry? It only takes one YES! Just keep pitching your book until you find a literary agent or publisher that believes in you! You will get tons of rejection, but stay motivated and keep going!
How do you handle setbacks and criticism? You have to be your own biggest fan, believe in yourself, and keep going! I am used to rejection as I am a PR Pro who has been pitching reporters with stories for over 40 years. You can’t take the rejection personally. Your story will surely resonate with someone at some point.
Being an author today is like running a business. How do you manage your publicity and social media and maintain engagement with readers? As a long-time PR Pro, this came very easily. I am well-connected with the media and have also worked as an on-camera talent for many years. I promoted myself, just as I have promoted my clients. I wrote news releases, booked myself on TV shows, and made a separate Instagram account for the books. My husband, Captain Dan, is also my webmaster, and he created a separate website for Astra that includes free activity sheets for children.
How do you hold yourself accountable and achieve the goals that you set forth? I am a Type A, self-motivated person, and I hate procrastination. When I set my mind on something, I tackle it and get it done! I told myself I would start my own company before I turned 40, and I did! I told myself in my 60th year that I would get my book(s) published, and I did!
How do you structure your day and make time for writing? The PR business definitely ebbs and flows with times where I am tearing my hair out, busy, and times when things slow down. Since I wear two hats, I tend to write when the “day job” is not quite as busy. The pandemic was the perfect time to start writing, as most of my clients were shut down!
What do you find most fulfilling in the career that you’ve chosen? For my PR job, I love landing a big story for my clients more than anything else. Nothing like getting that “big fish” on the hook! For my author job, I love reading to children when I travel to schools and bookstores, and see how enamored they are with Astra and my books! There is no other feeling like it in the world. And I am amazed that their minds are like sponges. They listen to every word, and when I quiz them from the glossary in the back of the first book, they remember every fact about Astra – including how fast she flies and how high she goes!
What book uplifts you? I love historical fiction because it adds a relatable, relevant twist to our past. I recently read Jacqueline in Paris, an interesting story about Jackie (then Bouvier)’s life as she studied abroad in post-war Paris during her junior year at Vassar, long before she became Jackie Kennedy.
Connect with Julie and learn all about her and her books, meet Astra and Captain Dan, and see what adventure is next via her website.
